Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, who is currently directing his upcoming film Mumbai Saga, is all set to direct a film based on the graphic novel called Rakshak. His production company White Feather Films has bought the rights of the graphic novel from Yali Dream Creations CEO and Publisher Asvin Sirvastangam.
Gupta took to his social media account to make the announcement and wrote, “So proud and happy to announce that my company White Feather Films has acquired the rights for Rakshak. A thrilling graphic novel about a vigilante superhero. This is India’s first graphic novel to be made into a massive & ambitious feature film to be directed by me.”
So proud and happy to announce that my company White Feather Films has acquired the rights for RAKSHAK. A thrilling graphic novel about a vigilante superhero.
This is India’s first graphic novel to be made into a massive & ambitious feature film to be directed by me. pic.twitter.com/xXGxBkwLX7— Sanjay Gupta (@_SanjayGupta) December 24, 2019
While speaking to Hindustan Times City the director revealed that he had met the Rakshak writer, Shamik Dasgupta some time ago when he was working on another big film. The writer shared the books with him but he forgot about it due to his other works.
But recently, when Shamik came on the sets of Mumbai Saga, it was John (Abraham) who reminded him about it, and that it had a great potential. “When I read it, I was blown away with the storyline, the central character and the supervillain as well,” he said.
The rights were acquired after six months of talks with Shamik and the book’s publisher. Gupta is currently busy with Mumbai Saga and has another film after that. Therefore, the first film of the series is likely to go on the floors towards the end of next year. “Shamik is also working on the subsequent books and we have also started the initial work,” he told the news daily.
Talking about the cast of the film, the director said it is too soon to say anything. “Not just hero, I have to cast a solid supervillain, who is great with martial arts and all. So, it is going to be an uphill task. But I feel, it’s high time we have more of our indigenous superheroes.”
Asvin Srivatsangam, founder of Yali Dream Creations told Mid-Day, “We at Yali Dream Creations are extremely proud of Rakshak and believe that it has great potential to come across as an interesting Hindi feature film. In the able hands of Sanjay Gupta, we feel that the film has found an ideal creator, hence we look forward to the partnership and the film, which is soon going into development.”